Susan Bartlett Rice exhibit at Savory Maine

Thu, 05/18/2017 - 7:15am

Story Location:
11 Water Street
Damariscotta, ME 04543
United States

    A selection of new oil paintings by local artist Susan Bartlett Rice will be on display at Savory Maine of Damariscotta May 23 through July 3. The Savory Maine venue is a chance to see Rice’s body of work all together, similar to how her paintings are shown in her Walpole studio.

    Rice represents long-standing traditions in contemporary times through her colorful paintings of local architecture, the working waterfront, the Maine woods and agriculture. Rice’s recent paintings feature vibrant color, and her style lies somewhere between representational and abstract.

    “Lately my eye has been drawn to the more geometric patterns both natural and man-made: ice breaking up in a cove, polka dots created by blossoms against the sky or the vertical lines repeating in pilings under a dock. I’m always trying to push my palette to explore new color combinations,” Rice explained.

    In addition to her studio work, Rice recently completed a colorful mural measuring 60 feet wide of clam diggers, which can be viewed at the intersection of Washington and Congress streets in downtown Portland.

    This year, Rice has also been selected by The Harlow Gallery as one of 13 artist/farm partnerships for Community Supporting Arts (CSA II) project taking place across Maine in 2017. Participating artists began visiting their partner farms regularly beginning in January, at the very start of the 2017 growing season, creating art inspired by their farmers’ lives, work, and landscape. Rice is partnered with Tarbox Farm on Westport Island.

    Susan Bartlett Rice moved to midcoast Maine as a teenager and graduated from Lincoln Academy. She holds a BA in in Studio Art and Art History from the University of Vermont and has been employed by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Rhode Island School of Design.  Her paintings have been widely exhibited and collected and her work was featured by Downeast Magazine in 2015.

    Her Walpole studio is open by to the public. For more information (and studio open hours), visit www.susanbartlettrice.com.

    Savory Maine is located at 11 Water Street. 207-563-2111.